A local performance of Driving Miss Daisy

Saturday

Sep 14, 2013 at 11:15 AM

Stephanie Ziebarth

Every once in a while I feel a real hankering for a good show. Maybe it’s because I grew up in the Minneapolis area, where there are numerous excellent theaters. There is definitely something about a live performance that is very special.

My husband Aaron and I try to see a professional play or musical about once per year, usually for our anniversary. Often we look at what the Totem Pole Playhouse is offering (www.totempoleplayhouse.org). This year we happened to notice a coupon in our Bonus Book for the Washington County Playhouse Dinner Theater (http://wcpdt.com/). “What’s this?” I wondered aloud to my husband.

“Check it out,” he advised.

I did a little research and saw that “Driving Miss Daisy” was showing on our actual anniversary. My inquiries of friends and acquaintances resulted in positive comments about the theater, so we made reservations. I figured, how can you go wrong with “Driving Miss Daisy” (http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/driving-miss-daisy)?

So last Saturday, we celebrated 17 years of marriage with a nice meal and an engaging performance of the Pulitzer-winning play by Alfred Uhry.

Observations:

-We had a little difficulty in finding the theater. Be sure to follow the website directions rather than using GPS (http://wcpdt.com/directions/).

-It’s a cute little place that feels tucked underground. The fact that this performance was done in “black box” format (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_box_theater) probably contributed to the dark feel of the room, but that wasn’t a bad thing.

-The food was good—not fabulous, but good.

-It was novel to be waited on by the performers. I imagine it saves on the budget to have the actors and lighting technicians also wait tables and seat people.

-I’m sure the theater is small and quaint on purpose, but the 40 of us in attendance did not fill the place. Places like the Totem Pole Playhouse and this local theater are struggling financially. This makes me sad, yet I’m not in a position to buy season tickets myself, so I understand.

Overall, I would recommend the Washington County Playhouse, and I would also specifically recommend this production, which runs through next weekend. The service was great, the acting was very good, the food was enjoyable, the story is heart-warming and meaningful, and it’s a cultural experience very near your own town.

Let’s enjoy these theaters while we have them! (And if we all do, they’ll stay around longer.)

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